The
fact that music occurs sequentially
in time impressed itself upon me
and I attempted to replicate this by stretching long, narrow,
horizontal canvases to
force a sequential viewing of imagery. This
infatuation was a brief one. I
came to accept that painting differs
from music in that one can begin anywhere on the canvas & jump
around unpredictably... and those possibilities should be explored not
constricted. I had been thinking of painting as analogous to music for
some time. This analogy helped me to appreciate abstraction, at first
via Kandinsky, Klee but then Mondrian &
De Stijl, later the
Abstract
Expressionists, Minimalism etc; I
could enjoy a blue triangle
against a yellow ground once I realized that that was what I was
enjoying in music - interesting, evocative patterns of
sound and
ultimately, perception itself.
I retain James St. Centerfold, Places and
Long Sequence.

These paintings straddle a shift I made, moving to MSU grad school and
accepting my sig. other's decision to stay in Marquette. Grad school
was a rich two years which allowed me to focus on painting, art
history, teaching and to continue developing my musical interests.
Particularly opportune was the daily student newspaper that needed a
cartoonist/illustrator and political cartoonist - paid!. I fell in love
with New York City and was determined to move there after grad school.
I did a for-credit trip to the east coast interviewing artists &
critics, summer 1975. The excitement of the grad school adventure
obscured the emotions of ending a relationship and the
fact that i'd probably never live
in that magic hometown again.
But I
visit every
summer (so far).